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Showdown(Part 1)
Episode 9, Season 3, of War. Enjoy the first part of your season finale. <3 Showdown I hate my life. I really do. I mean, here I am, sitting outside my family's den, a soldier of WaterClan, with nothing to do but watch a bug crawl across a stick. And not a pretty bug either. A fat ugly one. Funny, how things come around. A moon ago I was in this same spot doing the same thing. But that was that day I was drafted, the first one of my camp to be put into the war. "Brookfall?" I look up to see my mother's face for the first time in a moon. I scramble to my paws and barrel into her, the way I used to. "Mom!" She let's out an oof and I feel guilty. I guess I am stronger now, from all the training. Her blue eyes search me and I see tears leaking out of them. "You're alive!" "Of course I am!" I purr. "What are you doing here?" she asks, weeping with joy. I chew on the inside of my cheek, looking over to Braveclaw's den. Gorsefur will be in there, telling him why we're here. Why everyone I've known my whole life, the cats I've grown up with, are in mortal peril. The rest of my squad conveniently decided to go hunting while I waited for my parents to get back from their patrol. I see my father now, dropping his squirrel and racing over to me. "Brookfall!" he rescues me from having to answer my mother's question. My father envelopes me, curling his tail around me. I didn't intend on crying, but I feel three tears squeeze out of my eyes before I get ahold of myself. I pull away. "It's so great to see you!" "Is the rest of your squad here?" my father asks. I nod, looking to see if they've come back. They haven't. "Yeah- Adderscar, Stormflight, Briarclaw, Grayleaf, and Gorsefur...Shadowsong and Oakclaw are at Main now." My mother looks a little daunted by all the names. Gorsefur appears from Braveclaw's den. The rising sun makes him a shadow- a shadow with golden eyes. He catches my eyes and a brightens, leaping down from Braveclaw's den to meet me. "You like him," my mother whispers, looking ecstatic. "Mom." "Hey Brookfall," he nods to me, then looks at my parents, "Are these your parents?" I nod, feeling nervous and excited all at the same time. "Mom, Dad, this is Gorsefur. He's the commander of our squad." My parents greet Gorsefur and I see the others coming in, laden with prey. "Perfect," I mutter. Gorsefur hears and he purrs. Adderscar and the recruits join us and my mother, not seeing my glare, greets all of them. "Oh, who's who?" she begs. I sigh. "Stormflight, Briarclaw, Grayleaf, and Adderscar," They all dip their heads as I point them out and mutter hello like good little kittens. The silence build and I can't take it. "I'm going to go eat." I announce, feeling self-conscious. After a moment, everyone follows me, my parents watching us go with wide eyes. "No offense Brookfall, but this place kinda makes me want to kill myself," Stormflight confides. Briarclaw smacks him on the back of his head and Grayleaf gives me a sympathetic look. Adderscar and Gorsefur are whispering, probably trying to work out a plan. Eventually I'll have to ask them about it, but for now, I'd like to curl up and disappear. Eyes peer at us from the camp and I droop. Why couldn't Firestar pick any other place to terrorize? I grab a mouse, stomach roiling with tension. "-and then I would feed the fox their severed leg-" "But if there eyes were torn out, how would they watch?" "Oakclaw," Shadowsong meowed tightly. "Please don't play with the prisoner." Thundercloud leered at her and Oakclaw rolled his eyes. "Please, Shadowsong. It's ridiculous. I mean, he lost me at the whole ripping out their lungs part. Who does that?" Shadowsong groaned and reflected on how the trip had gone so far. Thundercloud had been brooding the first part, so Oakclaw had mercilessly teased her that she was finally getting called to Main to be a guard, but not to worry, he wouldn't talk too much about how much better at fighting he was. When Thundercloud finally started making the usual 'I'll gut you all like fishes' threats, Oakclaw had started encouraging him until the FireClan tom was practically spitting. And now they were talking like civilized enemies. It was ridiculous. It's how he copes, she tried to tell herself as Oakclaw started it up again. You get angry, he gets cocky. Cock''ier.'' Their courier, a she-cat with the ironic name of Silverblossom, had deserted them a long ways back. She looked to be Silverflower's ghost, but with green eyes and less courage. Thundercloud made one comment about finding her family and pushing them one by one off of a cliff and she bolted. Amateur. Main came into view and Shadowsong tensed. If Firestar's brother was going to make a run for it, it would be now. She refused to think of the last time she and Oakclaw had fought him. It started with Oakclaw getting knocked out and ended with a full out battle on FireClan territory. Not something she wanted to relive. Thundercloud seemed to realize it too and his eyes meandered to the edge of the Silver Forest. "Don't think about it," Shadowsong. "The treaties are adamant that we can't kill you with just cause, but it's a lot less specific about your tail." Thundercloud sneered at her. "You wouldn't be so brave if-" "Try me," she growled. They had stopped and Oakclaw stood uncertainly on Thundercloud's other side. Thundercloud scoffed. "Maybe one day," he met her eyes. "One day soon." Despite herself, Shadowsong shivered. Thundercloud was sick, and his favorite way of getting to cats was by hurting the cats they cared about. Thankfully, Shadowsong didn't have many of those. "You don't scare me." she told the large ginger tom. "You're just a bloated up, smelly, disgraced excuse for Firestar's older brother and I think if he could see you he'd wish you were anyone's brother but his." She turned on her paw and led the way to Main. Oakclaw pushed Thundercloud after her and she felt a dark sense of satisfaction that the tom would soon be in prison where she'd never have to see him again. Now, if I could just get Oakclaw into prison too... she thought in annoyance as the two toms started it up again. "Well," Briarclaw says as we circle up at the end of the day, "The rumors are as follow: Brookfall is pregnant, Brookfall and Gorsefur are together, I'm Brookfall's long lost sister, Adderscar is her long lost brother, Grayleaf and Stormflight have confusing feelings for each other-" "I think we get the idea," Gorsefur snorts as Stormflight and Grayleaf slowly scoot away from each other. I bury my face in my paws. "Alright, well, Braveclaw, the representative here, knows about the plan now. He's thankful for our help but he doesn't think that Firestar would dare-" "What?" I turn to him, beseeching. "Gorsefur, tell me you convinced him." Gorsefur looks pained. "I tried. He'll accept our help, but nothing beyond that." "They will die." I tell him poisonously. "Everyone. The cats I grew up with, my parents-" "Brookfall," Adderscar interrupts. "As tragic as this is, we have to take what we can get. We're lucky Braveclaw didn't laugh us out of camp- which he could have done." "Let me talk to him!" I say desperately. "We can get them out-" "Firestar will target another camp then, one we won't be able to protect." Adderscar says, his eyes devoid of emotion. "It has to be here, Brookfall. This is WaterClan's last defense." I get up and leave, rushing through the familiar forest with the ease of someone who grew up there. No one chases me, but I hear Adderscar mutter something and Gorsefur sigh. I run until I reach the babbling brook. It was my mother's favorite place as an apprentice and she named me for it. I dip my paw in the water and swirl it around gloomily. "Why am I being so...ugh. I hate she-cats who are always crying and whatever," I exclaim. "But I just..." The brook has no answer. "I just feel like everything is falling apart." The brook babbles on, washing away the old, sweeping away everything except the here and now. I sigh. "Yeah. That's what I thought." "We have to hurry," Oakclaw urged. "We need to tell Waterstar about the plan." Shadowsong nodded and Thundercloud perked his ears. "What plan?" "Firestar's plan," Oakclaw bragged. "We figured it out. Sucks for you." Thundercloud immediately stopped walking and sat. Shadowsong turned and sighed. "There's no way you're getting out of this, Thundercloud." "Oh, I know." his eyes glittered. "But I can slow you down enough so that you won't have time to tell Waterstar anything." Even when he's a prisoner he's still manipulating us, she thought. "Fine. We'll drag you." she started forward and he whipped out his claws. "Get close to me and I'll shred you. Oh, sure, you can fight me off eventually, but it'll take time." "Then I'll go to Main and get more guards," she retorted. "It's not far." He was gleeful, getting a rise out of her. "And leave me alone with your friend here?" Oakclaw flinched involuntarily. "I don't think so." Shadowsong's claws unsheathed and she looked helplessly to Main. She could see the Barracks now. "So, what are we going to talk about?" Thundercloud asked pleasantly. I am miserable. Gorsefur has volunteered to do some extra training with the warriors and apprentices. Adderscar is busy plotting- planning I mean- with Braveclaw. Stormflight and a sulky Briarclaw have started working on fortifying the camp. Grayleaf and the medicine cat work tirelessly, gathering herbs and swaths of cobwebs. I bounce from job to job. But eventually I always hear the same thing, whether it be in Adderscar's exasperated snarl, Gorsefur's gentle command, or Grayleaf's hesitant advice. "Why don't you go catch up with your family?" The thing is, I don't want to catch up. I tried talking to my mom and she seemed shocked by how...not timid I was. "You've certainly matured." she'd said, looking faint. I don't know if I've matured. But I'm louder, braver, not the same she--cat I was. And beside all the benign changes, there were the bad ones. I was in the forest hunting when I heard someone creeping up on me. I immediately thought it was a FireClan intruder and pounced. Apparently it was one of the kits- now an apprentice. They had to get cobweb bindings from an awkward looking Grayleaf. After that I basically just try to latch onto whoever leaves last. Today that means the recruits minus Grayleaf. "How did you never realize you were so close to the EarthClan border?" Briarclaw asks. "I dunno," I shrug. "The solders took care of guarding the border and we never saw any EarthClan cats. Plus, it's not like anyone from my camp ever got invited to Gatherings or important events." Briarclaw shrugs and Stormflight passes her a strand of brambles. She weaves them onto the nursery. I can hear the kits squeaking outside of it with their mothers and I purr. "I'm going to go get another strand, be right back," I head through camp instead of around. I was always good with kits, and after being in the war, all that innocence is refreshing. There are three current queens. The mothers sit together while the kits tumble and I wave my tail at them. The movement catches their eyes and they look at me. Two of them wave back. The third stares back at me with wide eyes. A stubby little tom pads over to her. "Mom?" She looks at him, meowing something quickly, then padding over to me, her blue eyes begging me to understand. "We didn't want to shock you..." my mother begins. I just blink at her as she begins to tell me about my brother. "This is insane," Shadowsong muttered for the twenty second time, by Oakclaw's count. She looked at Main, then back to a smirking Thundercloud. The treaties- or whatever farce that would go on- would be starting soon. Thundercloud knew it. She knew it. Oakclaw nodded and her and they tried to rush Thundercloud for the eleventh time, by Shadowsong's count. Immediately, his claws were whirling at them. Shadowsong dodged to the right and Oakclaw skidded to a halt with a yelp. "This is insane." she growled. Twenty-three, Oakclaw mouthed to her. Thundercloud yawned and stretched leisurely, looking at the sky. "Oh my, time flies. Well, we'd best go. Wouldn't want to be late." his eyes glittered with malice. Shadowsong cursed at him and he purred as they began to move again. "I've toyed with many cats in my life, but you two are the most satisfying," he meowed, "I'll give you that." The sun set and the moon started to rise. They reached Main, the guard asking for identification. "Shadowsong and Oakclaw, we're meant to be guarding the treaties. This is Thundercloud, a prisoner. He's Firestar's brother and we captured him. I'll report to someone later, but for now take him to a den with double the guard." She waited until the soldier got several others- all well muscled, able cats, then took off for the clearing where the treaty would be made. Oakclaw was hot on her paws. "See you soon!" Thundercloud called after them. "I...have a brother." I meow. My mother looks at me sadly. "So much had changed...mostly you...but we didn't want you to feel like we'd forgotten about you. I was intending to tell you after the meeting, but you were chosen to be Drafted and I couldn't. I'm so sorry Brookfall." "What's his name?" I rasp. She points out the kits. My parent's and I are all varying shades of brown, but somehow the lucky little tom gets trendy blue fur. "His name is Riverkit." "Riverkit," I whisper. "Riverkit and Brookkit? Really?" My mother gives a little purr and shrug. Riverkit chooses that moment to toddle over. He's a moon old, but he already has a stubborn set to his chin and my mother's blue eyes look at me from his face. "Mom says your my sister." he wrinkles his nose a little. "I don't really want a sister." "I didn't really want a brother," I find myself retorting. My mother looks mollified, but Riverkit purrs. "Will you teach me how to fight?" he hops on my tail, curled neatly around my paws. "Will you tell me what it's like to kill stuff and take me outside of camp even though Mom won't let me because-" "We'll see," I find myself purring, though my head is spinning. Riverkit bounces and heads off back to his friend, bragging. "Are you angry?" my mother frets. "No, I'm happy!" I shake my head. "I just never thought-" "I know," she nods, "And I'm sorry. But Riverkit is wonderful, he's so handsome and smart and stubborn and he reminds me so much of you." Wordlessly, I press against her. Allowing myself to be Brookfall the she-cat, not Brookfall the soldier. "Brookfall?" I look up to see Gorsefur and Adderscar. "Patrol?" Nodding hastily, I stand, ready to rush off. Then I turn. "Bye, Mom." "Have fun!" she says cheerily. We pelt out of camp and neither Gorsefur nor Adderscar teases me, thank StarClan. "We have to speak to Waterstar!" Shadowsong protested as the guard shooed her and Oakclaw away. "You should already be at the clearing," she chided. "Waterstar has no time for this." "But-" Oakclaw began. But the she-cat had disappeared and Shadowsong let out a yowl of annoyance. "We'd best get to the clearing," he meowed dejectedly. Shadowsong nodded, but her face was a mask of guilt and shame. We failed. Oakclaw hoped she wouldn't do anything crazy. The last time she'd had that look he'd lost her for half a moon because she tried to finish her mission. They trudged to the clearing, arriving just in time. Waterstar entered the clearing literally a minute after them and they tried to hide their breathlessness and sweaty sides as they joined the ranks of WaterClan guards. None of the FireClan cats were there yet. Oakclaw thought that was strange, but he just sat straight, eyes ahead, watched Waterstar. Waterstar looked around, then whispered something to an aide. The cat ran out and there was silence. The tension built. Waterstar turned, opening her mouth. And the FireClan cats erupted out of the trees. From all sides, shrieking. The first row of WaterClan warriors immediately shielded Waterstar and pulled her back towards WaterClan. Oakclaw started over, but skidded to a halt. He was sprayed with blood as the tom beside him had his throat ripped out. He lost sight of Shadowsong for a moment. "Shadowsong!" And then she was beside him again. He wordlessly pulled her away from the carnage and to Main. The WaterClan warriors, the ones who hadn't run, were WaterClan's best and brightest. They managed to hold off the FireClan cats for a little bit. But they were overcome and the FireClan cats swept towards Main. The forest is still and silent around us and we kick around for a little bit before heading back. Mostly we're quiet. Gorsefur and I talk a little, but Adderscar keeps his distance, both literally and figuratively. We're halfway back to Summerstorm when Gorsefur jerks upright, blinking. Adderscar and I immediately take point on his right and left. "I thought I smelled..." he looks around, then his eyes widen. "They're coming." "Are you sure?" I ask, my voice hitching slightly. He nods. "Brookfall, you go warn the camp. You're the fastest. Try to get them out of there...Adderscar and I will see how many there are, try to pick some off." "Be careful," I say to both of them. I look into golden eyes and tell him alone, "Please." They take off, doing their mission. I take off to do mine. The invasion has begun. Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics